Wheeling's Cannon gets key assist from her mom

Wheeling senior point guard Janelle Cannon is known for her ability to distribute the basketball.

After Wheeling's 55-37 victory over Carmel on Tuesday in the third round of the Warren Blue Devil Classic, Cannon said her mom came through with one of the game's biggest assists. Just prior to the start of the second half, Cannon's mom handed her a bottle of Gatorade.

Cannon and several of her teammates were playing through colds or flu-like symptoms.

"I was really tired," Cannon said. "I needed energy any way I could get it."

Cannon finished with 11 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists. Her favorite target was senior guard Bianca Szafarowicz, who had a game-high 17 points.

"I know she likes to sneak behind the defense," Cannon said.

Added Szafarowicz: "We've been playing together for three years now. We've picked up on each other's tendencies."

The duo caused just as much trouble on defense. Cannon and Szafarowicz each had 4 steals.

"They do more than just score," Carmel coach Ben Berg said. "They made it hard for us on the offensive end of the floor."

Wheeling senior Stephanie Kuzmanic contributed 11 points and 5 rebounds. Senior forward Larissa Aguero had 9 points. Eight different players scored for the Wildcats. Wheeling improved to 12-2 on the season and 3-0 in the tourney.

"We had a lot of people come in and give us good minutes," Wheeling coach Shelly Wiegel said.

Wheeling was able to generate turnovers whenever Carmel started to put together a run.

"We do a good job of reading the other team and anticipating where they will pass," Wiegel said.

Carmel (8-7) fell to 1-2 in tournament play, but the Corsairs played inspired basketball in the first quarter. They even had a chance to take a lead into the second quarter, but a missed shot with 5 seconds left led to a coast-to-coast layup by Cannon before the buzzer.

Wheeling turned its 15-12 first-quarter lead into a 29-15 halftime advantage.

"They were setting good screens so we switched to a 1-3-1 trap," Szafarowicz said.

When Carmel played Fenwick on Dec. 7, the Corsairs came out intimidated. This was not the case against Wheeling.

"We didn't play with any fear," Berg said. "I'm proud of the girls."

Carmel senior center Kristine Ruhl had a team-high 14 points and 5 rebounds. Junior Erin Quinn and sophomore Sarah McHugh each contributed 7 points. Junior Beth Scudder pulled down 7 rebounds.

"We did a good job of getting the ball inside," Berg said. "Kristine was aggressive taking the ball to the basket."